Speaking at the inauguration of 1,061 Red and White Village Cooperative Units in Nganjuk, East Java, Prabowo said he carried the people’s sovereign mandate as president.
“As president, I am responsible. I have taken an oath and I am accountable. If this nation goes hungry, I am responsible,” Prabowo said, according to a livestream on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.
Prabowo also said he had instructed Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman and his team to achieve food self-sufficiency within four years, although he expected the target could be reached sooner.
He praised Sulaiman’s performance, saying the minister had demonstrated strong ideas and understanding of agricultural issues after several discussions.
Prabowo said he later proposed to former president Joko Widodo that Sulaiman be reappointed as agriculture minister.
“I had never met him before. I asked him several questions and found he had clear thinking. I then proposed to Jokowi that he return as agriculture minister,” Prabowo said.
At the same event, Prabowo said Indonesia had long been underestimated internationally and often viewed as a “soft state.”
He said some Indonesian leaders, officials, experts and business figures still suffered from an inferiority complex and tended to value foreign achievements more highly than domestic capabilities.
“We are making progress, yet we are still underestimated. Achieving food self-sufficiency is not easy for a country of 287 million people,” Prabowo said.
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Translator: Fathur, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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